"Our duties towards the environment are linked to our duties towards the human person, considered in himself and in relation to others. It would be wrong to uphold one set of duties while trampling on the other. Herein lies a grave contradiction in our mentality and practice today: one which demeans the person, disrupts the environment, and damages society."
Benedict XVI.
Caritas in Veritate, June 2009.

For clues, we look to Francis’s first major statement on ecology: his
June 5th General Audience. In a handful of paragraphs Francis outlined his
concerns as well as how they relate to others. Given that, what might a Pope Francis eco-encyclical look like?

Here’s what we know so far:

1. From yesterday's announcement, the document will be rooted in
the John Paul II and Benedict XVI concept of “human ecology.”

(Vatican Radio) The Director of the Holy See Press
Office, Father Federico Lombardi, S.J., confirmed on Friday that Pope Francis
has begun work on a draft text on the topic of ecology, which could become an
encyclical. But, Father Lombardi said, the project is in an early stage, so it
is too early to make any prediction about the timing of possible publication.

Father Lombardi said it is important to note that Pope
Francis intends to put particular emphasis on the theme of “human ecology,” a
phrase used by Pope Benedict to describe not only how people must defend and
respect nature but how the nature of the person – masculine and feminine as
created by God – must also be defended.

It’s no surprise that human ecology takes center stage in the Vatican news blurb. In his June 5th audience Francis rooted his words in his predecessors’:

Moreover on various occasions Benedict XVI has
recalled that this task entrusted to us by God the Creator requires us to grasp
the pace and the logic of creation. Instead we are often guided by the pride of
dominating, possessing, manipulating and exploiting; we do not “preserve” the
earth, we do not respect it, we do not consider it as a freely-given gift to
look after.

We are losing our attitude of wonder, of contemplation,
of listening to creation and thus we no longer manage to interpret in it
what Benedict XVI calls “the rhythm of the love-story between God and
man”. Why does this happen? Why do we think and live horizontally, we have
drifted away from God, we no longer read his signs.

However “cultivating and caring” do not only entail the
relationship between us and the environment, between man and creation. They
also concern human relations. The popes have spoken of a human ecology,
closely connected with environmental ecology. We are living in a time of
crisis; we see it in the environment, but above all we see it in men and women.
The human person is in danger: this much is certain — the human person is in
danger today, hence the urgent need for human ecology!

2. Also from that audience we find Francis connecting
this conversation with economic matters—specific ones at that:

The peril is grave, because the cause of the
problem is not superficial but deeply rooted. It is not merely a question of
economics but of ethics and anthropology. The Church has frequently stressed
this; and many are saying: yes, it is right, it is true... but the system
continues unchanged since what dominates are the dynamics of an economy and a
finance that are lacking in ethics. It is no longer man who commands, but
money, money, cash commands. And God our Father gave us the task of protecting
the earth — not for money, but for ourselves: for men and women.

So be prepared for the pontiff to expand this conversation, espeically given the importance
he placed on (and the reaction to) his statements on economics in his first
papal exhortation.

3. And as we know, Francis is not one to speak only in theory. He speaks to each of us—and includes himself in his exhortations. When it comes to the environment, he exhorts us all to make changes. In this case that means that you and I need to throw out our “throw-away culture” because how you and I consume is a
matter related to both our personal holiness (that is, living virtuously) and the common good:

We have this task! Nevertheless men and women are
sacrificed to the idols of profit and consumption: it is the “culture of
waste”. If a computer breaks it is a tragedy, but poverty, the needs and dramas
of so many people end up being considered normal. If on a winter's night, here
on the Via Ottaviano — for example — someone dies, that is not news. If there
are children in so many parts of the world who have nothing to eat, that is not
news, it seems normal. It cannot be so! And yet these things enter into
normality: that some homeless people should freeze to death on the street —
this doesn’t make news. On the contrary, when the stock market drops 10 points
in some cities, it constitutes a tragedy. Someone who dies is not news, but
lowering income by 10 points is a tragedy!

4. All this will, of course, be linked to human life issues, specifically abortion and euthanasia. This will continue an important theme in B16 (who said that “[o]ur
duties towards the environment are linked to our duties towards creation”).
Pope Francis will of course underscore this in his own way, as he has often to date and did on June 5th:

[P]eople are thrown aside as if they were trash.

This “culture of waste” tends to become a common
mentality that infects everyone. Human life, the person, are no longer seen as
a primary value to be respected and safeguarded, especially if they are poor or
disabled, if they are not yet useful — like the unborn child — or are no longer
of any use — like the elderly person.

5. Francis is deeply concerned about how the
previous two items are related—how human over consumption (and our throw-away
mentality) is intrinsically related to the lives of people elsewhere, born and unborn. Again from the audience:

This culture of waste has also made us insensitive to
wasting and throwing out excess foodstuffs, which is especially condemnable
when, in every part of the world, unfortunately, many people and families
suffer hunger and malnutrition. There was a time when our grandparents were
very careful not to throw away any left over food. Consumerism has induced us
to be accustomed to excess and to the daily waste of food, whose value, which
goes far beyond mere financial parameters, we are no longer able to judge
correctly.

Let us remember well, however, that whenever food is
thrown out it is as if it were stolen from the table of the poor, from the
hungry! I ask everyone to reflect on the problem of the loss and waste of food,
to identify ways and approaches which, by seriously dealing with this problem,
convey solidarity and sharing with the underprivileged.

That said, look for an eco-encyclical that challenges us all—especially in the hyper-consuming West—in very specific and sacrificial ways.

6. Given that Francis does like to surprise people, we can be sure
that we’ll all be surprised with how he expands these themes. It's likely that he will
get very specific—mentioning particular resources, places, and peoples. While the placement
of matters that can be easily associated with a particular time can sometimes
date a magisterial document, I can see how papal attention given to tangible and
temporal ecological realities will do much to connect our duties toward the environment
with our duties toward the human person.

7. Lastly, Francis has a strong devotion to the Blessed Mother. Like his predecessors, he routinely entrusts his papacy to her intercession. And so the theological hermeneutic of such encyclical will, it seems, be specifically Marian. After all, it was Mary, as creature, that allowed the grace of God to stir within her and bring into human history the Lamb of God, who came to take away the sin of the world.

That’s my take. What’s yours? Put your wish list of ideas
in the comments below. If I get a good many I may very well send them to the
Holy Father. After all, we know that Francis likes to engage the People of God for the good of all people and all creation.

1 comment:

In his blog entry on Eureka Street.com.au, “Climate Denial Tide is Turning,” dated03 November 2013, Neil Ormerod, Professor of Theology at Australian Catholic University stated:

“In the recently published biography, Pope Francis: Untying the Knots, Paul Vallely notes that the Pope is planning a major encyclical on environmental matters. … Pope Francis has asked Leonardo Boff to send him his writings on eco-theology as part of his preparation.”

If Ormerod is correct, the Pope will have a powerful theological basis, as well as a well argued basis from the social sciences, and “on the ground” experience to undergird the need to join ecological concerns and concerns of economic poverty with the call of the Gospel to care for the poor and the planet. See Leonardo Boff, Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor, Orbis Books, 1997.

About the author

is an environmental regulator with a Master of Arts in theology. His thesis examined the influences of St. Bonaventure on Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI. In 2010 he was inducted into the Theta Alpha Kappa honor society for theological studies. Most recently he presented at the 2012 International Congress on Medieval Studies.
Bill is a graduate of the University of Rhode Island in mechanical engineering. He is a 25-year employee with Rhode Island's Department of Environmental Management, for which he has received numerous state and federal awards.
Since 2004, Bill has been writing “Catholic Ecology” for the Rhode Island Catholic. He also writes about Catholicism and social commentary for local and national publications, including Catholic World Report and Ignatius Insights.
Bill has most recently completed his new book Catholic Ecology: Its place in Orthodoxy, a Culture of Life, and the New Evangelization. Mr. Patenaude is also a Knight of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

What is contained herein is but one person's attempt to teach and defend the Church's teachings—ecological and otherwise. As such, I offer all contents of this blog for approval of the bishops of the Church. It is my hope that nothing herein will lead anyone astray from truth.